Rafay Rashid

“My experience as an Anthropology major at Purchase was unrivaled in terms of providing a renaissance foundation for later pursuits, which include over a decade-long career in music and the art world, and recently a pivotal shift towards mental health and recovery.”

Rafay Rashid ’12 is an artist, musician, and mental health practitioner. Rashid currently works “within the lineage of socially engaged and participatory art practices. His work blurs the boundaries between exhibition, performance, and collective care, often taking the form of gatherings, ambient installations, and improvised social spaces—a counterpoint to the commodification of self-care in contemporary life.”  —open forever.org

He completed a Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Rhode Island College (May 2025). Read more about Rashid’s journey to sobriety.

Rashid recently concluded WRECK ROOM, a month-long exhibition that functioned as a “third space”—a place where people can engage with one another, explore the value(s) of community, and build relationships through game play at OPEN, a project space in Providence, Rhode Island, where he lives.

“SUNY Purchase’s Anthropology program gave me the critical thinking and writing skills to be able to make sense of the world in its fragmented and interwoven form.

“Today, I find myself applying my anthropology background to nearly every pursuit; from songwriting to substance abuse counseling, the Anthropology program at SUNY Purchase has given me the toolkit to live life from a culturally curious and analytical perspective.”

As a student at Purchase, Rashid worked for artist Tino Sehgal at the Guggenheim Museum, which led to assisting and producing live-art exhibitions for artists Asad Raza and Phillippe Parreno, including Parreno’s H {N)Y P N(Y} OSIS at the Park Avenue Armory in 2015 and Raza’s work at the Whitney Biennial in 2017 and Kaldor Public Art Projects in Sydney in 2019.

In 2017, Rashid performed as part of the Whitney Biennial and at Displace, a two-week art program at Shanghai’s Rockbund Art Museum.

Rashid fronts the garage pop band Ravi Shavi, “a concoction of classic punk, modern indie, and new wave, with a shot of rock n’ roll.” He tours independently and writes and performs with Happiness, a four-piece art-rock outfit comprising him and members of the nationally renowned band Deer Tick.

He’s released five records with Brooklyn-based punk label Almost Ready Records, including his 2023 solo debut, Kitchen Weapons, a piano-based break-up album.

Born in Islamabad, Pakistan, and raised in New York City and Rhode Island, Rashid received a national minority fellowship for substance abuse counselors from the National Board of Certified Counselors, further solidifying his commitment to working with underserved populations in the fields of substance abuse and mental health.